Senju Tobirama keenly noticed that the voice had not reached him through vibrations in the air.
Instead, it had been transmitted through fluctuations in divine power.
Immediately afterward, the intensity and density of those fluctuations skyrocketed.
A god seated upon a golden dragon throne suddenly appeared before Senju Tobirama's eyes.
Boldly, he asked, "Are you His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor?"
The Heavenly Emperor gave a slight nod. The twelve strands of jade beads hanging from his crown swayed gently as he replied,
"Yes."
Senju Tobirama continued boldly, "You disregarded my unruliness and generously granted me divine power, teaching me how to perceive divine power and the power of faith. Why?"
The Heavenly Emperor answered,
"This is the respect a god should show to the Human Dao."
Senju Tobirama repeated in surprise,
"The Human Dao? Respect?"
"Before this Human Dao, even gods must show respect?"
The Heavenly Emperor said,
"Gods are naturally more exalted than humans."
"Because gods are higher-order lifeforms far beyond humanity. To a god, a single human is much like an ant is to a human."
"A few days ago, the priestess of the Land of Demons came before me. She dared to question my authority, so I gave her a small lesson."
"But humans are intelligent beings. When countless people gather together and form a civilization, a Human Dao Will containing the purest spiritual essence of all humanity will be born."
"Before the Human Dao Will, gods must show sufficient respect."
"Because the growth and strengthening of gods both require the support of the Human Dao."
Senju Tobirama understood something from those words.
But that understanding only gave rise to even more questions.
In particular, there was one question about himself that he simply could not comprehend, so he pressed further.
"But I'm only one person. Why do you show me such respect?"
The Heavenly Emperor answered,
"Wisdom and courage are the core elements from which the Human Dao is born."
"Only heroes who possess both of these virtues can open the path of the Human Dao."
"Even in the shinobi world, after the Human Dao Will is born, it cannot evolve into a concrete lifeform. It must manifest through an individual in order to exercise its authority."
"And the people most suited to this role are likewise heroes who possess both wisdom and courage."
"Senju Tobirama, you possess the qualities of the Human Dao. Naturally, I will show you a measure of respect rather than treating you like an ordinary human."
Senju Tobirama carefully listened to the Heavenly Emperor's explanation.
Then he let out a breath of relief, his entire body visibly relaxing.
Naturally, these words were merely a reason Uchiha Yoru had concocted.
But they had been expanded from the concept that "the hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage," while also drawing inspiration from Thanos's evaluation of Tony Stark.
They represented the crystallized thoughts of human society amid the sweeping tide of a great era.
Naturally, they possessed a force capable of shaking the human heart.
At the very least, to Senju Tobirama's ears, there was not the slightest flaw.
More importantly, the Heavenly Emperor had shown him a vast perspective and grand vision that he could barely comprehend, yet found deeply shocking.
As Senju Tobirama contemplated the god's macroscopic perspective, he temporarily found himself at a loss for words.
He no longer held the slightest doubt about the Heavenly Emperor's identity.
No.
There was still some doubt.
Senju Tobirama still could not completely trust the god's purpose.
Having a grand vision and seeing the bigger picture were not necessarily good things.
Especially when you yourself were not part of that "bigger picture."
In that case, it was all too easy to become a sacrifice.
A single speck of dust from an era, once it landed on an individual, could become a mountain crushing them to death.
What exactly did this god who called himself the Heavenly Emperor want?
The Heavenly Emperor saw through Senju Tobirama's doubts and explained,
"I am a god who advocates equivalent exchange. Naturally, I have my own purpose in supporting you."
"As a god, I am not omniscient or omnipotent."
"I also require human wisdom."
"Therefore, I provide you with divine power and the ability to perceive divine power and the power of faith."
"In accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange, however, all the results of your research into divine power must be given to me and to my favored one."
Hearing this, Senju Tobirama asked for confirmation,
"Your favored one... Uchiha Yoru?"
The Heavenly Emperor answered without the slightest hesitation,
"Yes."
Senju Tobirama nodded and accepted the exchange.
"In that case, I agree."
"Very good."
The Heavenly Emperor was clearly satisfied.
There was noticeably more joy in his voice as he said,
"Though extremely faint, you have actually begun to believe in me."
"That is a good beginning. It will make it easier for me to provide you with divine power."
Senju Tobirama was startled.
"Believe in you?"
"How is that possible? Why don't I even know that I believe in you?"
The Heavenly Emperor said,
"You misunderstand faith."
"The meaning can be understood from the word itself."
"To believe is the first step toward faith."
"You know that I exist, and you believe in part of my truth. That is already the beginning of faith."
"Believing without logic or reason that everything a god does must be correct is not true faith."
"That is ignorant and fearless fanaticism."
Senju Tobirama muttered,
"But the cults I saw in the Land of Hot Water were all like that..."
The Heavenly Emperor replied indifferently,
"You said it yourself."
"Those were evil gods—or perhaps merely creations born from humans deceiving one another."
"Work hard."
"This is also for yourself, and for those you care about."
"If there is anything you require, communicate directly with my favored one. He will provide you with assistance."
Hearing this, Senju Tobirama immediately pushed all distracting thoughts from his mind.
He looked toward Uchiha Yoru beside him and asked,
"I've already reached an agreement with the Heavenly Emperor. How should I begin the work?"
"But before that, I need a laboratory."
"You can't expect me to conduct research right here on this hillside beneath the open sky."
"You're right. Of course I wouldn't have you conduct research outdoors."
Uchiha Yoru smiled and snapped his fingers.
The earth silently bulged upward.
Walls rose one after another, rapidly outlining the frame of a large building.
The surrounding trees uprooted themselves and flew into the air, shaking off all their branches and leaves.
Then they transformed into standardized wooden planks before further changing into doors, windows, tables, chairs, cabinets, furniture, and all sorts of other objects, completely furnishing the interior of the building.
The white sand beside the water also rose into the air.
As it flew over, it melted and fused into a rich assortment of glass products.
Large glass panes sealed the windows.
Even greater quantities of glass bottles, beakers, test tubes, droppers, and other experimental equipment automatically flew into the cabinets inside.
Before long, a spacious, brightly lit laboratory building equipped with everything necessary appeared before them.
Senju Tobirama murmured,
"This really is convenient."
"Even faster than my elder brother building a house."
"There's actually electricity too!!"
Uchiha Yoru laughed.
"It is a divine realm, after all."
"Within the limits of a god's understanding, whatever the heart desires can become reality."
Divine power was actually this miraculous.
Senju Tobirama's hands were already itching to work.
Ever since he became the Second Hokage, the burden of administrative work had consumed enormous amounts of his time.
Especially during the final war, he had no time whatsoever to conduct experiments.
This could be seen directly from the number of forbidden techniques Senju Tobirama produced.
Before Konoha was founded, Senju Tobirama had been at a disadvantage against his old enemy Uchiha Izuna.
Thus, he developed one forbidden technique after another, all specifically targeting the Uchiha Clan.
After Konoha was established and Senju Hashirama became Hokage, Tobirama still developed quite a few astonishing forbidden techniques.
For example: the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique...
All right.
They were still aimed at the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan, and even the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
But once Tobirama himself became Hokage, the development of forbidden techniques completely stagnated.
It was only after his death, when Uchiha Yoru brought him back with Edo Tensei, that he finally regained the chance to perform experimental work.
Unfortunately, the experimental conditions in Uchiha Yoru's home were unbelievably crude.
Senju Tobirama had still completed his work with great efficiency, but the experience had left him neither satisfied nor comfortable.
Now, seeing such excellent conditions, the excitement deep within him could no longer be suppressed.
Senju Tobirama waved his hand, signaling that Uchiha Yoru could leave.
He was going to concentrate and throw himself completely into his work.
Uchiha Yoru smiled slightly.
Then he disappeared.
And it was not only Uchiha Yoru himself who left.
He also withdrew every portion of his consciousness assigned to the Heavenly Emperor from the Purple Mansion world.
Only then could the world's timeline anchor itself to Senju Tobirama, who had entered a state of total concentration.
In this way, the upper limit of Uchiha Yoru's own perception of time could be broken.
...
At this very moment, Konoha's shinobi were advancing at full speed.
They were already not far from the northwestern border of the Land of Wind.
Behind them, Sunagakure shinobi who had discovered traces of Konoha's infiltration were also pursuing at full speed.
They had sworn to catch those thieves who had sneaked into their homeland.
And kill them.
The two teams heading to support the Land of Demons were now roughly two days and three days away from their destination respectively.
In truth, the Konoha shinobi were moving very quickly.
Far faster than Nara Shikasuke had originally estimated.
After all, when enemies were chasing from behind, people could always squeeze out a little more potential.
Compared to the relatively smooth progress of those two groups, the team from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth was having a particularly difficult journey.
The Land of Earth and the Land of Demons were actually neighboring countries.
Unfortunately, the enormous southwestern border of the Land of Earth consisted entirely of mountains.
Mountains, rivers, forests, and marshes covered the region, and there were virtually no usable roads.
Worse still, the mountains themselves were treacherous.
There were too many heavily weathered mountains commonly known as crumbly mountains, where the slightest carelessness could trigger a landslide.
The environment in southwestern Land of Earth was so harsh that even shinobi found it difficult to cross.
It was not completely impossible.
It simply took an absurd amount of time.
Traveling directly through the region would require at least a month.
Therefore, whenever Iwagakure shinobi traveled to the Land of Demons, they usually detoured through the Land of Rain.
But just as they reached the Land of Rain, a major battle erupted between Amegakure and Iwagakure.
At first, no one thought it would become a major battle.
After all, on Amegakure's side there was only a blue-haired young woman leading a little over a hundred young Rain shinobi in a standoff against several thousand Iwagakure shinobi.
The reason for the confrontation was simple.
An Iwagakure squad had encountered a Sunagakure squad.
The two sides fought.
The Iwagakure squad lost, as sometimes happened.
After losing two teammates, the remaining two shinobi successfully retreated.
Both survivors had already spent more than a year fighting on the battlefield.
Their mental states had long since become gloomy, irritable, and half-crazed.
Combined with the frustration of defeat and hatred over their dead comrades, their killing intent became impossible to suppress.
So they charged into a small village in the Land of Rain.
There, they happened to run into a patrol of Amegakure shinobi.
A battle immediately broke out.
Unsurprisingly, the Iwagakure shinobi possessed superior strength and combat experience.
They won.
They slaughtered every Amegakure shinobi in the patrol.
But the young Rain shinobi fought to the death without retreating.
Not only did they drag the battle out for an entire hour, successfully covering the villagers' escape, they even wounded both Iwagakure shinobi.
It could truly be called a glorious defeat.
The "Angel" Konan hurried over as emergency reinforcement and successfully intercepted the two injured Iwagakure shinobi whose mobility had been compromised.
In front of another group of Iwagakure shinobi arriving as support, she executed the two without the slightest hesitation.
In the battle that followed, the Iwagakure shinobi learned exactly how miserable it felt to be utterly suppressed and slaughtered.
The Angel's wings covered the sky.
Sheets of paper made from some unknown material transformed into razor-sharp paper kunai and paper shuriken, flooding down over them from every direction.
There was almost no technique involved.
Konan was simply crushing them with overwhelming force.
Under that storm-like barrage, almost every Iwagakure shinobi was wounded.
They were forced to devote themselves entirely to defense and could barely move a single step.
If they had not truly excelled at Earth Release ninjutsu, they might already have been slaughtered into a scattered mess.
As a result, more and more distress signals were sent out.
Eventually, more than a thousand Iwagakure shinobi arrived as reinforcements.
Faced with so many enemies, even Konan felt apprehensive.
She was not confident she could challenge so many Iwagakure shinobi head-on.
Thus, she led her subordinates back into the evacuated village and entered a standoff with the enemy.
The Iwagakure shinobi were equally astonished.
None of them had expected this rapidly rising female shinobi to possess such terrifying combat power.
Some of the younger Iwagakure shinobi saw only a single young woman on the opposing side, accompanied by forty-some equally young and inexperienced Rain shinobi, and could not help underestimating them.
One asked,
"What are we waiting for?"
"Why don't we just charge?"
His teammate immediately reprimanded him.
"Idiot! You're already on a battlefield and you still don't understand caution?"
"What is there to be afraid of? We have so many shinobi. If we charge together, we'll drown them instantly."
"You really are an idiot. Use your eyes and look at the marks on the ground."
"Think about her ninjutsu."
"If you leave the protection of defensive ninjutsu, you'll die for certain."
"Uh... well..."
"Or are you volunteering to charge first?"
"N-No. Forget it. We should probably be cautious."
But there truly were too few Amegakure shinobi.
And unlike the Tiger Unit, they were not elites.
They lacked strict discipline and possessed no outstanding tactical system.
Against an overwhelming numerical advantage, there was simply no way to balance the disparity.
Before long, more than a thousand Iwagakure shinobi completely surrounded the village.
The Rain shinobi were forced to split into four groups to guard the four directions.
As a result, Konan could only personally protect one side at a time.
Left with no other choice, she spread her paper wings and took to the air.
Only from above could she barely watch all four directions.
But in doing so, the advantage of her individual strength was reduced to its absolute limit.
The difference in total combat power between the two sides became increasingly obvious.
Even so, Konan felt no fear whatsoever.
Because Amegakure's reinforcements had already arrived.
After Amegakure underwent its great purge, fewer than six hundred young shinobi remained.
Only a little over two hundred could be mobilized for reinforcement.
But among them was Konan's closest and dearest friend.
Amegakure's new leader.
The wielder of the Rinnegan.
A disciple of Jiraiya of the Konoha Sannin.
The man Jiraiya had once identified as the "Child of Prophecy destined to decide the future fate of the shinobi world."
Nagato had personally led the reinforcements.
A numerical advantage was indeed an absolute advantage.
But that rule only held true when both sides existed on the same level.
Once one side possessed an individual whose strength completely exceeded the norm and reached an entirely new level, numerical advantage ceased to matter.
An exaggerated number of enemies might even transform into an astonishing battle record.
Nagato did not order the reinforcements following him to charge into the encirclement.
Instead, he ordered the Rain shinobi to remain at the perimeter and observe the Iwagakure shinobi from a distance.
Then he turned toward the Iwagakure encirclement.
He lowered his body slightly.
He was preparing to move.
The young shinobi following Nagato were astonished.
Young people were not particularly constrained by hierarchy or etiquette, and out of genuine concern, someone immediately asked,
"Lord Nagato, are you going in alone?"
Nagato answered casually,
"Mm."
The young Rain shinobi looked toward the several hundred enemy shinobi before them.
Most were chūnin.
There were also quite a few jōnin wearing forehead protectors marked with special insignia.
They could no longer stay quiet.
"You're going to charge them alone? That's far too dangerous!"
"Exactly! What kind of leader charges at the front while his subordinates hide behind him? We should follow you!"
"If we all fight together, breaking through several hundred Iwagakure shinobi might not be impossible."
More Rain shinobi stood up, demanding to join Nagato's attack.
"Lord Nagato, we're not afraid of death! Let us go together!"
"That's right, Lord Nagato! To protect the Land of Rain, none of us fear death!"
"If something happens to you, we'll suffer worse than death!"
Nagato turned around and faced the young Rain shinobi.
He was deeply satisfied.
These were all young people he had personally selected from Amegakure, people whose hot blood had not yet cooled.
They had also secretly joined the Akatsuki Organization, becoming Amegakure's new rising force.
They were young.
Passionate.
Full of drive.
Unafraid of sacrifice.
But Nagato had no intention of taking them with him to die.
They were seeds.
Seeds from which the Akatsuki Organization would grow.
Nagato smiled and raised both hands, gently pressing downward to stop his subordinates' declarations.
Then he said,
"I brought everyone here to reinforce our comrades."
"I did not bring you here to die."
"Besides, you should trust that I am not some mad fool seeking death."
It had to be said that Nagato's conquest of Amegakure—especially his killing of the Demigod Hanzō—had been far too easy.
That casual, effortless suppression had involved none of the spectacular displays one might expect from a great battle.
As a result, these young people had developed a huge misunderstanding.
In their eyes, the legendary Demigod Hanzō apparently had not been that extraordinary after all.
Lord Nagato was certainly powerful.
But how could he possibly defeat more than a thousand Iwagakure shinobi?
Finally, Nagato said softly,
"Please trust my strength."
With that, he turned around and leaped into the air.
And then...
He kept rising.
Higher and higher.
The Rain shinobi stared dumbfounded as Nagato flew directly into the surrounded village.
Flight.
True flight without relying on any tool!
It was a miracle!
The Rain shinobi immediately erupted into excited shouting.
"Long live Lord Nagato!"
"Long live Amegakure!"
"Hahaha! Lord Nagato, teach those Iwagakure bastards a lesson!"
The shouting Rain shinobi completely exposed their position.
But the Iwagakure shinobi had no attention to spare for them.
Every single one stared fixedly at the figure rapidly flying overhead.
Unlike tiny Amegakure, Iwagakure possessed a complete system of inheritance and education.
Even its genin understood what true flight represented.
Nagato effortlessly flew over the small village.
He exchanged a greeting with Konan, who was flying by flapping her paper wings.
Then he continued directly toward the side where the Iwagakure command unit was stationed.
Nagato landed lightly.
His pale violet Rinnegan stared directly at the Iwagakure shinobi.
"Iwagakure shinobi."
"Do you know what the Rinnegan is?"
Boom—
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